I am also considering the options and have just come across the Sony A450 and get the feeling that it is a cut down A550, but with all the picture quality. How does this compare with the Lumix G1 for picture quality. I can get both new for similar prices, but the £50 cash back from Panasonic ends tomorrow, so I need a quick reply if possible.

What would you go for and why. I had started off with the idea of a Panasonic FZ35(or FZ38 in UK)(£212), or the HS10 (£330) and am now working my way up the price range (or same price, but less lens power). There seems to be no point getting a camera that can't take nice pics of my kids, though I need to take pics in the school play and on sports day so will need some zoom capability (The A450 seems to accept Sigma and Tamron Zoom lenses if I get it right).

Any help appreciated, I used to have an Olympus OM10 and Loved it, but now I cannot use the lenses (I had loads) as film is on the way out, so I need to get a digital camera, or at least a fill in for a couple of years until the price of the DSLR's comes down to a better price and includes video. (video capability does drag me back to the Bridge cameras, but I could cope without it if the picture quality of them is not acceptable.

well the g1 is not a dslr, it is a evil with a m4/3 format. It is a great tool for hdr. The sony is a dslr. The g1 is good upto 800iso, then gets noisy. The a450 has a larger sensor and can shoot well to 3200iso before getting noisy.

The G1 is a smaller camera while the a450 is much larger, but it takes great photo. From sample it may be better then the sony in image quality upto 800iso. But it is not ideal for action, as the contrast base AF system is not as fast as the systems they use in dslr's.

with m4/3 pretty much you can use any oly manual lenses on it with the proper adapter.

So if you are shooting landscape and not action, and not in low light with short exposures. The G1 and a450 are pretty equal.

It looks to be a really good DSLR camera as long as LiveView is not a priority. It also has an in-camera Guide just like the Niko D-3000. If I was in the UK or Europe, I would purchase an A-450, at the price it is being offered. With this pricing, the A-450 which uses an APS-C imager and lenses is priced very close to the Canon XS/1000D in the UK, which make the A-450 a real winner, as it has many more features than the Canon XS/1000D, hands down!